YuGiOh! GX Chronicles: Matt Valant
by Aniperve
Summary: Even a guitarist in training has yearnings to go to a place of legend. That place for Matt Valant was Duel Academy. Join him, his friends and his enemies in the wild Rock and Roll lifestyles of these crazy duelists! An OC story
1. Entrance Exam

**Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Chronicles: Matt Valant**

**By Aniperve**

__

Summary: Even a guitarist in training has yearnings to go to a place of legend. That place for Matt Valant was Duel Academy. Join him, his friends and his enemies in the wild Rock and Roll lifestyles of these crazy duelists! An OC story

**Disclaimer: I do not own a lot in this story. Some places as well as some characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**A/N:** You read the summary right? Well, that will be in another chapter later on.

**Chapter 1: The First Gig! A Force to be Reckoned With!**

The sound of chattering, potential students emanated from the courtyard of the prestigious Duel Academy Test Center. The dome-shaped, stadium-like building stood in front of their young eyes, inviting them in within the next hour. All sorts of things could be heard.

"I hope I get in!"

"Man, I don't stand a chance!"

"This week's deck is especially awesome!"

But, if you listened closely enough, you could hear the faint sounds of an acoustic guitar, playing a delicate melody. The person playing was none other than Matt Valant.

Matt stood at about five-foot-eleven and one-hundred and ninety pounds. His dark, black hair went down to the top of his neck and out in front enough to create a hair flip, coming down his face. His nose, ears and eyes were adorned with a pair of bold, black-framed, tinted glasses. Look close enough, and you'd even be able to notice the remnants of a goatee starting to grow.

He sighed as he put the guitar down. "Well, that seems like enough practicing for today…" He looked out into the crowd of people. "Now, I sit back and people watch!" He snickered and set his eyes to the crowd.

He watched every person who walked by and made critical assumptions as to how they dueled just by how they held themselves. "Let's see… He looks like one of those 'analytical' types…" He stroked his chin. "Probably a deck centered around direct damage… And that guy, pretty confident. Most likely a beat down deck…"

He sat there, doing this for about twenty minutes, until he heard a voice coming from the nearby registration table.

"Sorry I'm late." Came the beautiful, dulcet voice.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?" He turned his head and looked to see who and where the voice was coming from.

She stood there, five-foot-nine, blonde and beautiful. Matt grinned. "Well well… Looks like this just got interesting!" he said to himself

"You're lucky, miss! We were just about to close registration for the day!" Said the woman behind the desk in a cheery voice.

The girl chuckled. "Sorry again! Traffic here was horrible…"

The other woman nodded. "Alright…" She started to write in her ledger. "There, you are registered for the entrance exam!"

"Thank you." The younger woman replied with a bow.

The registration lady nodded, picked up the ledger and walked off into the large, dome-shaped building.

Matt chuckled and got up, his guitar strapped to his back. He walked over to her with a smile. "That was a close call!" He said.

Standing closer like this, he actually realized how tall she was, even if he was one or two inches taller, she was still very tall.

"Yeah, I guess…" She said not even glancing at him.

"Hmm?" Matt raised an eyebrow. "Heh…" He chuckled. "I see…" He turned around and started to walk away.

"See what?" replied the blonde girl. Now the girl looked at him. And with a bit of an angry glare. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing really…" He shrugged. "Just forget I said anything, kay?" He smiled "My name is Matt!"

By this point she had already turned around and walked away. "Hmm… Maybe I came on a bit strong…"

Suddenly, a man with a megaphone came out. "Ahem…" He started, turning on the megaphone. "All registrants for the Duel Academy entrance exam, please make your way to the front door! The written portion will start in ten minutes, make your way quickly to the testing room."

"Well… I guess that's that…" Matt got up and dusted off his legs. "Let's get crackin'!"

Just then, the blonde girl reappeared. "And just so you know, you have no right to judge me from one response… Or lack there of, I guess…"

"What are you talking about?" Matt replied, remaining forgetful as ever.

"You never said it, but you think I think I'm too good for anyone else!" She exclaimed.

"Why would you think I thought that?" He said with a smile, this conversation taking a confusing turn for the worst.

"Because of that stupid smirky look on your face!" She gritted her teeth. "So what? I'm too good, or what?"

"Sounds like a compliment, if you ask me." He said, playing dumb. "I don't remember nothing…"

"Come on!" She said, raising her voice. "It was five minutes ago! How could you forget?!"

Matt blinked, but then chuckled. "Oh! Right! Now I remember! Girl, chill! I didn't mean what I said back there! Test anxiety and all…"

"What?!" She asked, gritting her teeth.

"Don't act dumb." He smiled. "Listen to how you're speaking, I'm not the only victim of test anxiety, it looks like!"

She gasped and blushed, looking away. "Oh… Sorry…"

He smirked. "Nah, I should be the one apologizing!" He headed towards the main doors of the testing facility.

"My name is Erin… Erin Beaumont…" Came the girls voice from behind him.

Matt stopped and looked over his shoulder with a smile. "It's a pleasure Erin!" He gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck, alright?"

She nodded and gave a confident smile

--

"Alright potential scholars… Pick up your pens!" Commanded a female professor. "Your test begins… Now!"

The sound of every student's pens clicking at the exact same moment flooded the room, quickly followed by the sound of pens scribbling answers onto their paper.

Matt sighed and looked down at his paper. He was telling the truth before, the reality of this test was causing a blank out.

"Damn… My brother was right…" He muttered under his breath.

The letters and numbers on the page started to melt as the memory of the previous months ran back through his head.

--

__

"Duel Monsters?" Matt chuckled, looking at the colored cardboard his brother had shown him. "What is that? Some sort of game?"

"How could you NOT hear of it?!" asked Matt's younger brother Simon.

Simon was a year younger than Matt, but stood about five inches shorter, five-foot-six. His hair was chesnut brown that reached halfway down his back, even in the ponytail he set it in. Dyed blonde streaks ran through the ends of his hair, receding into the ponytail's tip.

"I can't believe it! My brother, so out of the loop!" Simon complained.

"What?" Matt asked. "Just 'cause I'm busy with the guitar and… Oh, I don't know, having a life, that means I'm somehow lame?"

"Of course!" his brother replied. "It's the best game in the world! It's fun and challenging!"

"So is the guitar…" Matt replied.

"Yeah right!" Simon snickered. "You can't knock this game before you've even played it!"

Matt started to pout. "Yeah… I guess that's right…"

Simon handed his brother a deck. "Here, play with me, I'll teach you all there is to know!"

--

"And with that, you lose the rest of your Life Points!" Simon exclaimed happily.

__

"I lost?" Matt asked in a tone that said 'I don't know what's going on…'.

"You bet! Don't feel bad though…" Simon started to laugh. "After all, I am a seasoned duelist after all! There's no shame in losing to me!"

"Plus, it was my first time…" Matt said looking away.

"Yeah, that too I guess!" Simon said with a shrug.

"… Let's play again…" Matt said with a smile.

--

__

"What's this one called?" Matt asked showing a card to his brother.

"That? It's called a 'Fusion Monster Card'!" Simon replied. "It's like regular monster, but you have to use a card called 'Polymerization' to summon it, along with the two monsters in the card description."

"Huh…" Matt looked back at the card. "That's interesting…" He cycled through the cards in his brothers trunk and stopped at one. "Dude! This Fusion card has a guitar! That's awesome!"

Simon chuckled. "Oh, him? You can have him if you want. I never saw any need for that card!"

Matt stared at the card with a smile on his face. "Thanks man…"

Suddenly, the sound of a blazing guitar riff played and Matt's head cocked up quickly. "What was that?!"

"What was what?" Simon asked.

Matt looked around the room and sighed. "No… Nothing… I must've been hearing things…"

--

__

"And, I win again!" Simon said with a smirk. "That makes it fifty-three to zero. Why don't you give it up Matt? You're never gonna beat me!"

Matt looked at the cards in his hand and the remaining cards in his deck. "Yeah… I guess you're right…" He smiled. "But that doesn't mean I should give up!"

Simon gave him a 'pft' and shook his head. "If it's impossible to win, what point is there to even try?"

Matt chuckled. "Don't you know Simon? Nothing is impossible!"

Simon laughed as well. "Well, it looks like you're a loser and an optimist!"

--

__

"Mom, you wanted to see me?" Matt asked as he walked into his kitchen.

His mother, a woman of about forty nodded and motioned for him to sit down. "Matt, I've noticed that you've taking quite a shine to this Duel Monsters game…"

Matt nodded. "You bet! You can thank Simon for that!"

She chuckled. "And indeed I will! I haven't seen you this happy since you first started playing music!" She took in a deep breath and handed him a piece of paper. "That's why I'm showing you this…"

Matt looked at the paper. It was a flier for Duel Academy. "Why are you showing me this, mom?"

"The entrance exams are in a month…" She nodded. "And even though I wouldn't see you for years at a time… I want you to be happy…"

Matt blinked at the paper and looked back to his mom. "Thanks…"

--

__

"Duel Academy?! You?!" Simon laughed and shook his head at the notion of the idea. "You haven't won a single duel in your life! I should know, I'm the only one you've ever played!"

"What's that go to do with anything?" Matt asked, sitting on the couch lackadaisically.

"You'd get stomped on and trampled over at that school!" Simon said with a confident smirk. "That is, if you ever got in!"

Matt sat there silently. Then he chuckled and reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a deck and handed it to his brother. "If that's the way you feel… Then here…"

"What… What are these?" Simon asked.

"The cards you lent me. If you don't think I can do it, than I might as well give these back…" He pulled out a second deck from his coat and showed his brother. "It'll be all me from here on out…" He picked up his suitcase. "The exams are tomorrow, but I think I'll head out early, make sure I get there early…" He grabbed his guitar case and headed out the door. "Tell mom goodbye for me…"

Simon gritted his teeth. "You think you're so cool! Well guess what Matt, you can't duel! By going to that exam, you'd just be wasting Duel Academy's time!"

Matt walked out the door, listening to every word. He walked and walked, all in silence.

"Matt!" Simon started, yelling.

"You'll never amount to anything!"

--

Matt chuckled. "Well… I'm here… Might as well get started…"

Matt picked up his pen and started to write.

Just then, there was a loud whistling sound. "Times up!" said the professor at the front of the class. "Leave your test on your desk and head to the Duel Arena to begin your Practical Exam!"

Students started to clear out of the testing room, leaving Matt, sitting there looking at his exam. "Wait… What?"

The professor looked up from her desk. "Number twenty-seven, please exit the written test area."

Matt was about to raise a word of objection just when a tall, gangly adult walked into the room, clad in a long, flowing, blue blazer. "I'm here to pick up those exams." He explained to the female professor. "I figure I can mark them all just before the practical exams begin."

Matt gulped and figured it'd be best before this person could put a face to his exam.

"Exit, stage left!"

--

Matt managed to find his way to the Duel Arena to see that the practical exam hadn't started yet.

"Oh good, I'm not late…" Matt muttered under his breath.

"Well, the dude finally shows up!" came a familiar, female voice from behind.

"Ah…" Matt turned around to see a smiling Erin. "Erin, so nice to see you again!" He smiled back to her. "D'you miss me?"

She chuckled. "Not really! But you're probably better company than these other degenerates…" she said looking out into the sea of students.

"They can't be that bad." he replied.

"Try being called 'Amazon' twenty times in the walk over here…" she explained with a sigh.

"Oh…" Matt said as two students approached.

"Hey, check it out! There's that Amazon girl!" said one.

"Yeah! And the dude she's with is even taller than her!" replied the other.

"Wow! They must be a fun couple!"

"Yeah! The Amazon and the sasquatch!"

Then they walked away, leaving Erin in a fit of anger…

And Matt in a fit of laughter.

"How can you laugh at that?!" she asked angrily. "They insulted both me and you!"

"I can laugh because I don't let those things bother me!" Matt explained. "In my head, I know I'm cool, handsome and totally awesome at the guitar! Whatever they say can't bother me!"

Erin looked at him and shook her head with a sigh. "Well, I don't know about the handsome part, hotshot! " She reached up and ruffled his hair as she started to walk away. "Come on, it's almost one o' clock! The practical exam will start soon!"

Just then, as if on cue, the man in the blue coat from before appeared before the group of students with a megaphone. "It's time for the practical exam!" he shouted into the megaphone with a bit of an angry tone in his voice. "We will be calling students down individually and proctors will judge your performance with a one-on-one duel which the proctor will stop as soon as they feel the test is finished!"

"Is it just me…" Erin whispered. "Or does this guy sound angry?"

Matt nodded. "I agree… You know… I saw him in the other test room. He was the one marking the exams, maybe he didn't finish on time…"

"Now then, there's fifty of you, so let's get this started…" the man said. "First student to duel will be…" he reached into a nearby bowl and pulled out a slip of paper. "Duelist number 36... Cameron Chahk… I hope I'm pronouncing that right…"

"Um, actually…" came a small voice from the crowd. "It's Shoq… It sounds like shock?… Like when you lick an electrical socket?"

The crowd parted to reveal a boy, no more than five feet, six inches, whose most predominant feature was the bright, red toque her wore to hide his light brown hair.

"Hmm… Yes… I suppose it is…" replied the professor. He pointed to the duel field. "Well, without further ado, let's get this testing underway!"

--

"Okay! Next question!" exclaimed the proctor dueling Cameron.

As it stood, Cameron had 1200 Life Points and the proctor had an immaculate 4000. On the field, there were three monsters. On the proctor's side of the field, there was a Goblin Elite Attack Force (2200/1500) in attack mode and Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) in defense mode, and on Cameron's side of the field he only had one monster; Batteryman C (0/0) in defense mode. The proctor had one face down on his field. Thanks to the latest advances in duel disk technology, holograms were created so outsiders could watch the duel easier.

"It's the start of your turn…" continued the proctor. "And you have two powerful monsters staring you in the face! Do you; A: Turn around and run away or B: Surrender, ashamed of your failure?"

Cameron drew his card. "Uh…" He looked at his hand. "I… Uh…" He shook his head. "I can't doubt myself! This will work!" He looked at the proctor. "I'm saying that's a trick question!" he said, trying to sound tough. "Cause I'll do neither! I sacrifice Batteryman C…" the chubby, orb headed battery exploded, and when the smoke cleared, there was a large, mechanical-looking dragon in its place. "And I summon Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon in attack mode (2400/1000)!"

Matt whistled from the stands. "Wow! That is some monster!"

"Yeah, and it'll get even better!" Erin replied.

"How so?" Matt asked.

"Because I used Batteryman C as my tribute, my dragon gains a special ability!" Cameron explained. "Now, whenever Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon destroys a monster in defense mode, you lose the difference between their points!"

"… Impressive…" stated the proctor.

"Now, my dragon attacks your… Goblin Attack Force? Yeah!… Right?" Cameron sort-of commanded.

Matt chuckled. "He seems pretty confused. You'd think this was his first duel!"

"Yeah! Go my dragon!" Cameron swung his arm out. "EMP Surge!" The dragon charged at the goblin in defense mode.

"Not so fast!" the proctor shouted. "You triggered my trap!" he said as his face down card flipped up. "It's a little gem called Magic Cylinder!" the proctor chuckled. "First, it negates your attack. Next, you take damage equal to your monsters attack!"

Cameron gasped as his last Life Points dwindled down to zero. "What?! Oh… Man! That means.. I lost… Right?" He sighed and walked away.

Back in the stands Matt shook his head. "Poor guy… I'd make the same mistake if I was him…" He waved his arm. "Hey! Cameron!"

Erin looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm inviting him to sit with us!" he replied, waving Cameron over to their seats.

"Fine, but you'd better not do this with every duelist that loses!" Erin said with a sigh.

Cameron made his way up to their seats. "You called me? Right?"

Matt smiled and nodded. "Sure did! I'm Matt!" He pointed to Erin. "And this is Erin! Come on, sit with us!"

Erin nodded, smiling. "Yeah, please!"

Cameron blinked for a while, his face gradually getting more blushed. "Ah… Um.. Ok? Sure, right?" he cleared his throat and sat down near, but not beside the other two.

Meanwhile, the professor got back on his megaphone. "Alright… time for the next duel…"

--

About an hour went by and Erin had just finished her duel. A victory for her. A flawless one at that, she finished with all 4000 Life Points.

Matt whistled. "Way to go Erin!"

"Yeah!" Cameron agreed. "That was great… Uh… Right?" He looked to Matt.

"Damn right it was great!" he said chuckling.

Erin waved to the crowd and everyone cheered.

"We love you Erin!"

"Marry me Erin!"

"I love you!"

Matt started to laugh. "First an Amazon, now an enchantress…" he shook his head. "She's good, I'll give her that!"

Erin quickly made her way to her seat. "Wow! That felt great!"

"That… Was really something?" Cameron stroked his chin. "Yeah! Right?"

"I've always said that half of dueling was performance." Matt nodded sagaciously. "You have to please the crowd!"

"Exactly!" Erin said with a wink.

--

"And now…" said the professor into the megaphone. "We move on to our last duel of the day."

Matt pumped his fist in the air. "Alright!"

Erin looked up at him. "What are you so happy about?"

"I'm happy because I'm the last one! I'm the only one here who hasn't dueled yet!" Matt replied.

"The last duelist will have a real treat!" the professor continued, smirking. "Instead of dueling a nasty, old proctor…" He put his hand to his chest. "Duelist number 27 will be dueling me! Matt Valant versus Professor Austin!"

Matt blinked. "And then, I'm not so happy anymore…"

"Did he say Professor Austin?" Erin asked rhetorically. "He's supposed to be the best of the best at Duel Academy!"

"You got your work cut out for you Matt!" Cameron stated.

Matt shrugged as he made his way down to the duel field. "Hey, if I lose, I lose, right?" He smiled and turned to his friends in the stands. "No biggie right? Just one less student to crowd the hallways."

"Indeed…" He tossed Matt a duel disk, which he caught effortlessly. "That is exactly what you will become!"

Matt slid his deck into the disk and turned it on. "Listen, I'd love to sit here a gab with you all day Matilda, but I'm here to duel!" Matt replied, looking away from Professor Austin.

The crowd in the stands started to laugh. Everyone except for Erin. "What does he think he's doing…" she muttered under her breath. "All he's doing is sealing his fate…"

Professor Austin just smirked. "Ah, it's all fun and games…" He turned his duel disk on. "That is, until someone loses an eye… Or in this case, a duel!"

Both their Life Points set at 4000 as they both drew their opening hand.

"Oh man…" Cameron stuttered from the stands. "This… Is going to be intense? Yeah… Not good!"

"I know what you mean." Erin said looking down at the field. "What's worse is I hear that Professor Austin has some sort of super rare card…"

"Powerful?" Cameron asked.

"You'd better believe it…" Erin said with a gulp.

--

Austin drew a card. "Age before beauty, and lucky for me, I have both!" He eyed his new card with a smile. "Well, before we get on with it, would you like to know why you're facing me instead of a normal duel proctor?" he asked.

Matt shrugged. "Anything to get this duel along!"

Austin gritted his teeth. "Insolent… I was marking the exams when I came upon Exam Number 27!"

"Uh oh…" Matt gulped. "I'm not liking where this is headed…"

"Indeed… You see, not only was I miffed to see that you had not written down any answers, I mean, there I could only assume you were planning to ace the practical exam, which is still worth a passing grade…" he explained. "But when I saw that there was no name, no date, no sign that the paper was even used… Well, that's when I snapped. Because then I had to find out who it was sitting in that seat! An ordeal which I don not enjoy to partake in!"

Matt blinked. "Is that all?" he asked. "So, I spaced out during the written thing, no biggie, right?"

"Gah! Yes biggie!" Austin exclaimed. "You think you're so good! I'll put you in your place and show you just how big it is!" Austin slid a card into the Spell and Trap Card Zone. "First, let's start off with a dandy called Card Destruction! With this, both our hands are sent to the graveyard and then draw the same number of cards we discarded!"

"What?!" Matt looked at his hand. "Damn, right off the get go, too!"

Both duelist surrendered their hands to the graveyard and drew five new cards each.

"Perfect!" interjected Austin. "Now, I summon Machiner's Soldier (1600/1500) in attack mode!" A hologram of a mechanized knight appeared, wielding a blade. "And that's not all, because when Machiner's Soldier is summoned to an empty field, I get to summon another one of his friends to the field from my hand!"

"Another one?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not quite… One that's similar, though!" Another hologram popped up, one of a white robot with a large gun. "I Special Summon Machiner's Sniper (1800/800) in attack mode!" Austin then slid a card into his Spell and Trap Card Zone. "I'm not through yet! Next, I activate the Spell Card! The Shallow Grave!"

"No, not that!" Erin exclaimed from the stands.

"Um… I'm confused…" stated Cameron. "What exactly does that do?"

"It let's both players summon a monster from their graveyard into face down position!" Erin explained. "And if it's the card I'm thinking of, Matt's in for a surprise!"

A hologram of a face down Duel Monsters card appeared on both sides of the field. "I think I'll play one last spell card before I end my turn! It's called Book of Taiyou, which allows me to flip any face down monster into face up attack position!" He pointed to his own monster. "And I flip up Machiner's Defender (1200/1800)!"

"Big deal, it's another robot! What's it gonna do?" Matt asked.

"It's going to seal your fate, Mr. Valant!" Austin snickered. "Because, when Machiner's Defender is flipped face up, I get to add a certain card from my deck to my hand!" Austin rooted through his deck and pulled out the card. "A card called Commander Covington! And I'll leave it at that, for now!" (LP: M4000 A4000)

"What a move… Three monsters in one turn!" Matt smiled. "You must have something tricky up your sleeve!" He drew his card. "This'll be fun! I think… Hmmm… First, I'll flip up my face down monster into attack mode! It's the Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200)! Next, I'll play my spell, Black Pendant! Every good artist needs some bling!" A necklace wrapped itself around the witch's neck. "This pendant gives my witch an extra 500 attack points (1600/1200)!"

"Little good it's going to do you." Austin stated.

"Whatever you say!" Matt pointed at the Defender. "Witch of the Black Forest, attack Machiner's Defender!" The witch ran at the small robot when suddenly, a blast of energy shot straight through the witch, destroying her and sending her to the graveyard. "Wait… What just happened?"

"Did I forget to mention my Machiner's Sniper's special ability?" Austin asked with a smile. The white robot held its weapon out, smoke still steaming out of the barrel. "My Sniper will take the hit for any of his Machiner comrades!"

"What?" Matt exclaimed. (LP: M3800 A4000) "Great… Well, no matter, because this is where good things start to happen!"

Austin raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"First, since my Black Pendant was destroyed, you take a heaping helping of 500 points of damage!"

Austin shrieked as his Life Points started to decrease (LP: M3800 A3500).

"Awesome!" exclaimed Erin. "Now Matt has the lead!"

Matt smirked. "Secondly, since my witch was sent to the graveyard, I get to add a monster with 1500 or less defense points from my deck to my hand." He rooted through his deck and smiled. "Here we are!" he showed it to Austin. "It's called Lady of Faith, and it has only 800 defense points." He put the monster in his hand with a smile. "Now, for a spell! Monster Reincarnation! By sending a card in my hand to the graveyard, I can add one monster from my graveyard to my hand! And I choose Witch of the Black Forest!"

"You're going to have to step up your game!" Austin said with a sneer. "At this rate, you'll never even come close!"

"Then what if I activate this!" He slid a card into his duel disk. "It's called Polymerization! And an old friend of mine told me to summon a Fusion Monster, I need this and the two monsters in the Fusion Monster's card description! So, by send Lady of Faith and Witch of the Black Forest to the graveyard, I can summon Musician King (1750/1500)!"

Austin snorted. "Not bad. Impressive, really. Unfortunately, it's all for naught!"

"He's right…" Erin said from the stands. She looked to Cameron. "Summoning that thing took a lot of work, but it's too weak to take anything down!"

"Unfortunately for you, my monster's about to get stronger!" Matt's graveyard started to glow. "Do you remember my Monster Reincarnation Card? Well, I had to send a card from my hand to the graveyard to activate it, and it's a card that can only activate in the graveyard!"

"What?!" Austin exclaimed.

"That's right! It's a spell, known as Posthumous Album Release! When it's in the graveyard, I can send other cards from my graveyard out of play to increase one of my monster's attack by 100 for every card I send out of play!"

"Wow… Great move!" Cameron said with a smile! "He's got a lot of cards in the graveyard… Right?"

Erin nodded. "Thanks to Professor Austin's Card Destruction card he does! Four cards from this turn and five cards from Card Destruction, that makes a total of…"

"900 extra points!" Matt finished. Musician King's attack started to increase (2650/1500). "Unfortunately, I have to end my turn!" He looked to his monster. "Don't worry, we'll get him next turn! Right, buddy?"

The Musician King turned his head and looked at Matt, giving him a silent smile and a thumbs up.

"Pah! Say what you will…" Austin drew his card. "You'll still lose! I summon Commander Covington (1000/600) in attack mode. And I'll activate his ability!"

"His ability?" Matt asked.

"Yes! You see, when Machiner's Soldier, Sniper and Defender are all on the field, Commander Covington can sacrifice them all to summon the greatest of all Machiner cards!"

The newly summoned, red robot blew a whistle. The Machiner cards the propelled themselves high into the air, changing shape and locking in with each other. Soon, they formed an even greater monster than Matt could have imagined.

"It's the Machiner's Force (4600/4100) in attack mode!" The large robot stood behind Professor Austin as the duel field was too miniscule for its massive size.

"That thing is huge!" Cameron said, looking up at it!

"So are it's attack points…" Erin gritted her teeth. "Is there any way to take that thing down?

"That's a big monster…" Matt said, looking up at it.

"Consider yourself lucky… Hardly anyone gets to see my rarest, most powerful card!" Austin pointed at Musician King. "Now, take out his so called 'king' Machiner's Force!" The large robot charged up its energy and shot a blast right at Musician King, taking it out.

"Musician King! No!" Matt exclaimed.

"He's not the only thing going down!" Austin exclaimed. "Say goodbye to your Life Points!" (LP: M1850 A3500) Austin shrugged, "But, I too must lose some Life Points. Every time Machiner's Force attacks, I lose 1000 Life Points. But, with great power comes great responsibility!" (LP: M1850 A2500) He then pointed straight at Matt. "No matter! Commander Covington, attack him directly!"

The small red robot charged at Matt, taking out a large chunk of his Life Points (LP: M850 A2500). "I'll end my turn there."

"End it where? Matt is basically done for!" Erin sighed.

"No! He can still turn this around!" Cameron exclaimed. "Uh… Yeah! Right! He can!"

Matt stared at his duel disk.

He forgot about the duel, he forgot about his Life Points, and he forgot about his opponent.

The only thing in his head was the memory of what his brother had told him.

__

Simon gritted his teeth. "You think you're so cool! Well guess what Matt, you can't duel! By going to that exam, you'd just be wasting Duel Academy's time!"

He blinked and stayed silent.

"You shouldn't have come here today! It's obvious you have no sense of what you're doing!" Austin taunted. "You can surrender if you want! Go ahead, say those two words! Saw them!"

Matt gritted his teeth. "You want two words… I'll give you two words…" He drew his card and glared right at Austin. "Let's duel."

"W-What?!" Austin exclaimed.

"I may not be the best duelist in the world, but I'm not going to give up! I've only had one turn, and to quit now would be ludicrous!" He pointed at Austin with ferocity. "And no one is going to change my mind! Not my brother and definitely not you!"

"That… Was almost poetic. You should be a musician, not a duelist!" Austin teased.

"I am a musician." Matt explained.

"Well, that explains your odd card choice…" Austin started. "… Fine, now make your move!" Austin said, with a stern look on his face.

"Gladly! First, I activate Pot of Greed! A simple card, it lets me draw two cards!" He drew his cards. "Ah! Sweet!" He smiled. "It's the beginning of the end! First, I play two face down cards and then activate my spell! Comeback Tour! This card lets me summon any monster from my graveyard, at the cost of half my Life Points!" (LP: M425 A2500) "I'm gonna choose Musician King!" The shirtless rocker returned to the field with a blaring guitar solo. "Rock on! I end my turn!"

"Hmm… Not bad, almost noteworthy." Austin drew his card. " Too bad for you, it'll be the last move you make! Machiner's Force attack Musician King again!" The robot charged another laser and shot it.

"Not this time! Go Trap Card!" One of Matt's face down cards flipped up. "Playing a Sold-Out Concert! This card doubles the attack of my monster, so turn up the volume Musician King (3500/1500)!"

"Ha! You must have not done your homework! My monster is still powerful enough to take down your 'king'!" Austin snickered.

The attack went through and Musician King was destroyed! "And there go your Life Points!"

When the smoke cleared, Matt could clearly be seen standing up with a triumphant smile. "I don't think so! You triggered my second trap! Soundproof Room!"

"Soundproof Room?" Erin asked.

"Even you don't know?" Cameron asked surprised.

"This trap, at the cost of half my Life Points, makes sure that I'm not affected by Battle Damage to my Life Points this turn!" Matt explained. (LP: M212.5 A2500). "Unfortunately, you still take damage thanks to your Robot's effect!"

"I don't think so!" Austin interjected. "My Quick-Play Spell says something different! Gift of the Kirin! All I have to do is sacrifice a Machine-type monster and all Effect Damage done to me is null and void!" Commander Covington was sent to the graveyard

"Hmm… Didn't think it'd be that easy." Matt said with a smirk.

Erin sighed. "Well, looks like that was pointless… He raised his monster's attack, even when he knew he wouldn't lose any Life Points… Why?"

"I guess I end my turn…" Austin said.

Suddenly, Matt's deck began to glow. "Perfect! Now the second effect of Playing a Sold-Out Concert can activate! You see, at the End Phase of a turn where Musician King is destroyed as a result of battle after activating this trap, I can Special Summon an even greater musician!" A large, long-haired, muscle-toned rocker made his way to the field. "Everyone welcome Legendary Musician Hero (3500/1500)!"

"What?! What is the meaning of this?!" Austin asked, yelling.

"Don't you know, or don't you go to that many concerts?" Matt asked jokingly. "Every sold-out show needs an encore! It's like a rule!" He smiled and pointed to the air. "And here it comes, because when Legendary Musician Hero is Special Summoned, I can add one card from my graveyard or out of play straight to my hand!" He snickered. "Think of it as, bonus pay for playing an extra song!" One card from out of play materialized into Matt's hand.

"Bah, there's nothing there that can save you now!" Austin said with a smile.

"Oh really?" Matt drew his card. "Cause I think they will! Here it is! Black Pendant! As you know, this card increases my monsters attack by 500 points! (4000/1500) Now, attack Machiner's Force, Legendary Musician Hero! Legendary Rockin' Riff!" Matt's monster started to play the guitar and the sound waves started to rock the arena.

"Are you dense? My monster is still stronger than yours!" Austin exclaimed.

"You think that! But don't count your victories until the last note is played!" Matt slid a card into his duel disk. "I activate my Quick-Play Spell, Final Solo! And with the way this will turn out, it's definitely the final solo! This card increases my monster's attack by 1000 points (5000/1500)!"

"One… One thousand?!" Austin screeched.

The sound waves coming from Legendary Musician Hero's guitar started to shake the Duel Field and eventually, Machiner's Force was reduced to scrap metal, forcing Professor Austin to take a hit to his Life Points (LP: M212.5 A2100).

"He… He did it… He took down Machiner's Force!" Erin said, softly and surprised.

"Yeah! Go Matt! Beat that guy!" Cameron yelled, getting caught up in the passion of the duel.

"My Machiner! My beautiful, beautiful Machiner!" Austin looked back at the pile of metal behind him.

"It's not over yet!" Matt exclaimed. "You see, when Legendary Musician Hero destroys a monster in battle, the owner of that monster loses 300 Life Points times that monsters level. So, say it destroyed a level 10 monster, like Machiner's Force…"

"I… I'd lose 3000?! Impossible! Unthinkable! This can't be happening!" Austin screamed.

"Possible! Thinkable! And yes, it is happening! Legendary Musician Hero, do your thing!" The large rocker approached the professor. "Solo of Destruction!"

The monster played a loud riff on his guitar and the professor flew back. His Life Points dropping down to zero! (LP: M212.5 A0)

Matt smiled and powered down his duel disk. "Rock on, professor! That was fun!"

--

Matt started to make his way off the duel field. The whole arena was in silence.

Matt stopped and looked around. Everyone's eyes on him.

He smiled coyly and pumped his fist in the air. "Rock on!"

The whole crowd stood up and cheered.

Meanwhile, Erin looked on at him from the crowd and smiled. "So, he beat the best of the best, huh?" She giggled. "I'm just glad that I'm on his good side!"

--

****

Next Time…

__

Welcome to Duel Academy Island, your home for the year to come! But is everything at orientation all hunky dory when a second year challenges Matt to a duel? And who is this mysterious roommate of Matt's and Cameron's? Find out Next Chapter!

****

Chapter 2: Welcome To Duel Academy! Nappers and Trappers!

--

**A/N:** Well, I hope you enjoyed that, review please, it makes me feel so good!

Meanwhile, I'll just post my original cards here (in order of appearance)

****

Posthumous Album Release

__

Normal Spell Card

You can only use the effect of this card when it is in the graveyard. Send cards other than this card from your graveyard out of play to increase the attack of one monster on your side of the field that has "Music" or "Musician" in its card name by 100 x the number of cards sent out of play by this card's effect

****

Comeback Tour

__

Normal Spell Card

At the cost of half of your Life Points, Special Summon one monster from your graveyard that has "Music" or "Musician" in its card name.

****

Playing a Sold-Out Concert

__

Normal Trap Card

You can only activate this card when there is a face-up "Musician King" on your side of the field. Double the ATK of one face-up "Musician King" until the End Phase of this turn. If "Musician King" is destroyed in battle this turn, you can Special Summon 1 "Legendary Musician Hero" from your deck, hand or graveyard at the End Phase of this turn. Otherwise, destroy "Musician King" at the End Phase of this turn.

****

Soundproof Room

__

Normal Trap Card

At the cost of half your Life Points, negate all Battle Damage done to you this turn.

****

Gift of the Kirin

__

Quick-Play Spell

Offer one Machine-type monster on your side of the field as a Tribute. Negate all Effect Damage done to you this turn.

**Legendary Musician Hero**

**_Spellcaster/Effect_**

_LV8/3500ATK/1500DEF_

This card can only be Normal Summoned or Set by offering three monsters on your side of the field as a Tribute. This card can only be Special Summoned by the effect of "Playing a Sold-Out Concert". If this monster is Special Summoned this way, you can add one card from your graveyard or one card that has been removed from play to your hand. When this card destroys a monster in battle, the owner of that monster loses 300 Life Points x The destroyed monster's level.

****

Final Solo

__

Quick-Play Spell

Select one monster on your side of the field that has "Music" or "Musician" in its card name. Increase the ATK of the selected monster by 1000. At the end of this turn's Battle Phase, destroy the selected monster.


	2. Orientation Night

**A/N:** Sorry bout the no update for like… Ever…

**Chapter 2: Welcome To Duel Academy! Royale Duellers and Royal Snoozers!**

The sounds of the helicopter's swinging blades deafened all the male duelists on it. It seemed that every male who passed their entrance exam was taken on one helicopter, while all the females were taken on the other.

Matt rooted through his deck with a stern look on his face. "Hmm…" he pondered to himself. He switched cards from his trunk to his deck and vice versa, "Ok… Without that trap, I have room for this card… Put In a little bit of… Yup… And… We're good!"

He sat back in his seat, looking at the completed deck in front of him. "I think this will get me far enough…" he said to himself.

"Far enough for what?" came a familiar, timid voice. "Er… I mean… If you don't mind me asking…"

Matt turned and smirked. "Well, well! If it isn't Cameron Shoq!" Matt said with a hearty laugh. What brings you over to this neck of the woods…" He looked around. "And, by 'neck of the woods'… I suppose I mean 'side of the helicopter'."

Cameron looked away. "Well… Um… I really… Don't know anyone… Except you… I suppose…"

Matt smiled. "Well, one true friend is better than a thousand false smiles!" He gave the smaller boy a thumbs up and put all his cards back into their appropriate spots. "I just restructured my deck, and I think it can get me through this year at Duel Academy…" He chuckled. "But hey… I'm probably the more new to this game than anyone else!"

Cameron smiled. "Well, you probably have what they call 'beginner's luck'!" He chuckled. "Um… I'm, well… Kidding, of course."

Matt laughed. "You got one crazy sense of humor!"

Suddenly, the helicopter started to descend and a voice came on the loud-speaker. "Gentlemen, take a look out your window. There you'll see the legendary Duel Academy Island, your home for, at least, the next year."

Cameron scurried over to a window with Matt slowly following him. "Oh wow!… This is… Great?… Yeah… Great!"

Matt smiled and chuckled. "You bet. A whole new life starts today!"

The pilot came over the loud-speaker again. "Also, due to the sudden change in air pressure, snake you may have brought may be popped out already, bottles may be broken, and any instruments you may have brought will be out of tune when we land."

Matt's head jerked up. "No! Not Olivia!"

---

The whole new first year class stood at the front door of Duel Academy, awaiting their dorm assignments and their school starter kit, which consisted of a coloured blazer, a PDA and a bunch of administrative lists.

Eventually Cameron and Matt both got their kits and decided to hang back and wait until the mad dash of people was over with. Everyone heading back at one time could cause a bit of problems with traffic and whatnot.

Luckily, as it turned out, Erin was there and she had stayed behind as well. She approached the two boys in her lovely looking, yellow blazer. "Hey boys!" she said in her melodic voice. "You two keeping out of trouble?"

Cameron froze up, not because it was a girl speaking, but because he didn't see her coming and got really frightened.

Matt, on the other hand, coolly turned to her and smiled. "Hey Erin. We're just chilling. Waiting for everyone to get settled in before we head back."

"Hmm, I'm surprised. You're in a pretty calm mood." Erin noticed.

Cameron cocked his head towards her. "R-Really?!"

Erin turned to Cameron. "Not you. Him." she stated, pointing at Matt.

"Why wouldn't I be calm?" Matt asked.

Erin sighed and handed him a sheet of paper. "Here, read this."

Matt read the paper and raised an eyebrow. "This is almost every card in my deck… What is this?"

"It's… Um…" Erin stuttered. "New additions to the Academy Banned Card List."

It was silent for a few seconds. Matt finally blinked his way out of it. "Why are these cards banned?"

Erin shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've asked around though. It seems that any professor can add cards to the list any time before the school year starts."

"But… Someone has to check the new additions… Before they go in… Right? I mean… Surely…" Cameron mused.

"I thought so too, until I heard who that person was…" Erin replied.

"Professor Austin." Matt figured out. "Looks like Matilda couldn't handle losing to me in a duel." He sighed. "Witch of the Black Forest is banned. Legendary Musician Hero is banned. Final Solo is banned."

"I'm so sorry Matt." Erin said, putting a caring hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah!" Cameron spoke up. "He can't get away with this! It's just corrupt!" He suddenly stopped after he realized how confident he was acting. "Um… I mean… We need to stop this…"

Matt smiled at his two friends. "Hey, don't worry about it!" He looked at the list. "Yeah, sure, I won't be able to use the cards I used against Austin again, but Musician King isn't banned yet, and that's all I need!" He pulled his deck out of his pocket and threw all but one card into his trunk. He showed the card to Erin. It was Musician King. "We're gonna make it in this world, one way or another, as long as he's fighting by my side."

Erin smirked. "Well, you better get cracking. Classes start tomorrow, and you're going to need a working deck…" She looked over to see that their kits weren't even open yet. "You… You guys don't even know what dorm you're in yet, do you?"

"Dorm?" Cameron asked.

Erin sighed. "There are three dorms in this school. Osiris Red, Rah Yellow and Obelisk Blue. Osiris Red is where all the reject duelists go. The ones who did terribly on the entrance exam, or just don't do their homework or studying."

Cameron opened his kit and pulled out a red blazer. "Oh man…" He sighed. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised…"

Erin continued. "Next, Rah Yellow is for those who are good at what they do, if what they do is duelling. They consist of people keeping a good average in grades, and people who aced their entrance exam!" She twirled around in her uniform and posed. "As you can see!"

Matt smirked. "And what about this Blue place?"

"Obelisk Blue?" Erin raised her eyebrow. "Well… The halls of Obelisk Blue are filled with second and third year students. These students are ones that get amazing grades and win almost all of their duels. If a first year did manage to get into Obelisk Blue, they'd have to have done brilliantly on their entrance exam. Like, I mean, amazingly brilliant."

"Heh heh." Matt picked up his kit. "Then I guess that means…" He reached in and pulled out his blazer.

It was red.

"Oh…" he stated. "That's not what I was expecting."

Erin stifled a laugh. "Oh my…" She turned around and headed down the path. "Well, boys, I'm headed to my room. There's a map in your kits, you should be able to find your way to Red dorm." And with a wave, she left.

Cameron blinked. "Well… We better… Head back? Yeah…"

Matt nodded. "Right, I need to build a new deck."

"Not to mention… You know… Tuning your guitar?"

Matt stopped. "Ahh! I forgot about Olivia!"

---

The Obelisk Blue dorm was adorned in a very fancy manner. There drapes were drawn over the windows, to shield the prestigious halls from the darkness of the night.

The girls' dorm and the boys' dorm were kept separate. At the head of the boys' dorm sat a familiar face. Professor Austin. He managed to snake his way up to his position as Blue Dorm head over the past years with a combination of butt kissing and trickery.

"Alright…" he mused to himself. "That damnable music kid is roaming the halls now… I managed to kill his deck, but I'm still not satisfied!" He looked around the hall at all the mingling second and third year students.

Suddenly, the professor spied a second year. He was about five-foot-seven, confident aura around him, and when he talked, the group around him listened.

"Hmm, he seems confident…" Austin mused. He got up and walked over to him. "Excuse me… Can we talk?"

---

The Rah Yellow dorm was done fancy as well. However, the boys and girls were only separated by one side of the dorm. Girls are in the east side, and boys are in the west side.

Erin smiled at all of her new classmates. "Orientation isn't so bad. Good food, good people…" She grabbed a dinner roll off of the buffet table. "This is going to be a good year!"

---

"What the hell is this?!" came a cry of objection from the Osiris Red dining room.

"It looks like… Rice and a single fried shrimp!" replied another.

Everyone in the room started to yell and rabble-rouse. The female professor at the front of the room sighed, a cigarette hanging from her lips. "You kids better settle down." she demanded. "This is probably the best you're ever gonna see in this house, so if I were you…" she glared at the now hushed students. "I'd sit down, eat, and get used to the crap that I'm given."

The mass of students had started eating by now, and scared out of their minds, they ate in silence.

Well, except for two. Matt and Cameron, who were just glad to be enjoying each other's company, they didn't even notice the death glare. "Man, I'm glad to be eating! It took forever to make my deck over from scratch!"

"Now, students," the professor started again. "It seems I'm missing one student." She held up a list attached to a clipboard. "His name is Napoleon Dormeur."

Everyone started to laugh.

"What a crappy name!"

"I'd hate to be that kid!"

The professor cleared her throat. "Mr. Dormeur is a third year, so I expect you all to treat him with respect." She read the list again. "According to this, he is in room 204."

"Hey, that's my room!"

Matt and Cameron looked at each other, surprised that they had said that in unison. "So… We're roomies?" Matt asked.

The professor smiled. "Alright then. Why don't you two go out and try to retrieve your lost classmate?"

The two boys nodded and left the dining room.

---

Matt and Cameron eventually found themselves in their room, looking for the lost Osiris Red student. "I can't believe we couldn't find him anywhere!" Matt lamented.

"Yeah… It's a… Shame? Right?" Suddenly, a ringing noise went off in Matt's pocket. "Um… what's that?"

Matt reached into his pocket and pulled out his PDA. "Huh… It seems I have mail…"

Matt pressed the mail icon on the screen and a video window popped up. It was some cocky looking, Obelisk Blue student. "Hey, Valant. I heard you're good. But I don't believe it. Come to the Duel Arena at midnight tonight and we'll see just how good you really are!" And with that, the video closed itself.

Matt chuckled to himself. "Sweet! I already got a duel lined up!"

"This is great!..." Cameron started. "I mean… You get to… Um… Do what you love… Right?"

"It's a trap." came a soft voice from the top bunk of the three bed bunk-bed. A face slowly popped over the side. "And stop being so loud, you woke me up."

Cameron froze up again. He wasn't expecting anyone else to be in the room.

"Who are you?" Matt asked.

"My name's Napoleon Dormeur, third year Osiris Red." He laid back in his bed. "And I wouldn't go to that duel if I were you."

Matt tilted his head. "Why not?"

"Firstly, there's supposed to be no duelling on orientation night." Napoleon started. "Secondly, there's no use of the Duel Arena from ten at night until eight in the morning. If anyone were caught breaking both these rules, they'd probably be expel…" His sentence trailed off due to a sudden sleep attack, but the point was made.

There was a silence between the two boys that were still awake.

"You're not going… Right?..."

"I think I might have to…"

They were silent again.

"I'm going." Matt decided, standing up. "I don't want to be known, on the first day, as the guy too scared to accept a duel challenge…" He walked towards the door. "I'm going to finish my dinner, and then come back to prepare."

Cameron nodded. "I see…" He stood up as well. "I'll… Come too… Right?... Yeah…"

Matt smiled. "Thanks Cameron… Now let's eat."

---

The two Osiris Red students stood in the Duel Arena. Matt had the duel disk that was in the starter kit attached to his arm, with his shuffled deck already in it. "It's almost midnight…" Matt said, looking around.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" came a voice from the other side of the room. The cocky looking kid from the video message walked in, duel disk on already. "Unless, of course, that's why you're worried!"

Matt scoffed. "You talk big. What's your name?"

The Obelisk student smirked. "Devon Royale… The future King of Games!"

"You wish!" Matt's duel disk activated. "Why don't you put your deck where your mouth is?"

"Hmph." Devon's disk activated as well. "Let's see this power that beat Professor Austin."

"How… Does he… Um… Know about that?" Cameron asked under his breath.

The two duelists drew their opening hands. "Duel!"

Devon drew a card. "Draw." He looked at his new card. "It's going to be hard to win, I imagine, with your deck all mangled and broken." He smirked as he turned to Matt. "After all… All your best cards were declared 'Forbidden', weren't they?"

"Hmph." Matt snorted. "What of it? I'm still a great duelist!"

"Uh, Matt…?" Cameron called from the side. "Don't you think that… Um… This guy knows a bit… Too much?"

"Yeah, I noticed that…" Matt replied. "We'll have to ask him about that later."

"Alright, let's do this!" Devon placed a card onto his duel disk. "I'll start by summoning Marauding Captain in attack mode! (1200/400)" A hologram of a blonde army captain appeared. "And that's not all! You see, when Marauding Captain is summoned, I can Special Summon a level four or lower monster from my hand!"

"What?" Matt exclaimed.

"I choose to Special Summon… Another Marauding Captain, in attack mode!" An identical hologram appeared beside the first.

"That's rough!" came a familiar voice from the entrance to the arena. Erin appeared. "As far as first moves go, that's pretty huge."

"Erin!" Cameron exclaimed. "What are… You know… You doing here?"

Erin looked to the duel field. "I was on a tour of the island with some of my classmates, and I overheard this Devon kid talk about how he was going to thrash some kid who took down Professor Austin." She shrugged. "I thought that Matt might be in trouble, and sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed."

"Huh? He's… In trouble?" Cameron asked.

Erin nodded. "Normally, when Marauding Captain is on the field, no other Warrior monsters can be attacked, besides himself." she started. "However, when two of them are on the same side of the field, they protect each other, making attacks impossible."

"Oh no!" Cameron gasped.

Devon smiled. "She's right! I'm invincible for now!" a hologram of a face down card appeared on the field. "I'll end with this face down card. Go ahead, it's your turn!"

Matt drew his card. "Alright then." He looked at his new card and smiled. "You know, I was a bit bummed when I found out I had to make a completely new deck. But it's not so bad, I suppose…" He placed a card into his monster card zone. "Because now, I get to announce the world premier of my Mini-Musician King! (1000/1000)" A hologram of a young boy wearing baggy clothes with a guitar on his back appeared. "But he won't be staying to long! Because my Mini-Musician King's about to get a record deal! That is to say, his effect lets me tribute him to Special Summon my key card from my Fusion Deck!" The young boy went up in a cloud of smoke. "Say hello to my Musician King! (1750/1500)" A grown man appeared as the smoke cleared. His spiky yellow hair was over shadows by the large red guitar he handled.

"Alright! Matt summoned his ace!" Cameron shouted with glee.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Erin sighed. "Matt still can't attack, thanks to Devon's two Captains."

Two face down holograms appeared on Matt's side of the field. "I end with two face down cards."

Devon drew his card. "Finally, I thought you'd never shut up!"

Matt growled. "Don't be so cocky…"

"I'll be whatever I want!" One of his monsters disappeared. "I sacrifice one of my Marauding Captains for their General! Freed The Matchless General! (2300/1700)" A long, blonde haired man, clad in armour arose beside the Marauding Captain, towering over him. "Then, I'll activate my face down card!" His face down card flipped up to reveal a spell card. "It's called Double Summon! As the name suggests, I can make another Normal Summon this turn, and I choose Queen's Knight, in attack mode! (1500/1600)" A female warrior appeared, wearing armour, holding a large sword.

"Oh my." Matt said with a smirk. "You got your own little army over there!"

"Heh." Devon snickered. "Yeah, I'm putting it to use right now! Freed! Attack the Musician King!" The large warrior rushed up to the guitarist and threw a punch at him.

"Negate Attack!" One of Matt's face down cards flipped up. "My trap card negates your attack and ends the Battle Phase on the spot!" He gave Devon a thumbs up. "You didn't think I'd let you take down the King, do you?"

Erin sighed with relief. "That was close…"

Cameron smiled. "Way to go!"

Devon growled. "Fine. I end with one face down card."

Matt drew. "Alright!" He looked at his card. "Ah! Sweet!" He put a monster on the field. "I summon my Musician Drummer, in Defense Mode. (1000/2000)" A drum set appeared on the field, as well as a shirtless man with long, straight red hair behind it.

"What a pathetic looking monster!" Devon smirked.

"Hey, don't diss the drummer!" Matt remarked. "The drummer supports the band the most! Without him, everything would go awry!" Matt pulled out his deck. "And now he's going to support me! My drummer lets me add one level four or lower Musician monster from my deck to my hand!"

Erin raised an eyebrow. "What's he up to?"

Cameron blinked. "These musician monsters…"

"They aren't regularly used." Erin said sternly. "I'm not even sure I know many of the strategies associated with them."

"Oh man…" Cameron gulped. "I just hope Matt does… You know?..."

"I pick this one." Matt added one card from his deck to his hand and shuffled the deck. "Next, I activate the spell card in my hand!" He revealed his card to his opponent. "Polymerization!"

Devon raised an eyebrow. "Why would you need to activate that? Your Musician King is already on the field!"

"I know!" Matt replied. "And that's exactly why I'm using it! I fuse my Musician King with the card I just added to my hand, Musician Prince!" Musician King disappeared from the field. "By fusing these two monsters together, I Fusion Summon Superstar – The Ultimate Musician King! (2400/1600)" A large guitarist wearing a mesh shirt, sporting a snake tattoo on his face appeared where the Musician King once was.

"My my, what a monster." Devon stated, as if he didn't care.

"It's about to get worse! Because Superstar gains one-hundred attack points for every Musician card in my graveyard. So, my Prince and my King makes for two-hundred extra points! (2600)" Matt pointed at Marauding Captain. "Take out his Captain!" Superstar began to play a loud guitar riff. The Marauding Captain covered his ears, but it was no use. Eventually he exploded into pixels.

"Hey, why aren't his Life Points going down?" Cameron asked curiously.

Devon's face down card flipped up. "My trap card activated. It's called Warrior's Shield! I can activate it whenever a warrior-type monster is sent to the graveyard. I take no battle damage this turn!"

Matt growled. "I thought that was too easy. Fine, I end my turn."

Devon smirked. "Good!" He pulled his deck out of the duel disk and started rooting through it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Matt asked. "Aren't you supposed to be drawing?"

"But this is my draw!" Devon said, mocking Matt.

"Oh, I get it!" Erin stated, turning to Cameron. "Freed the Matchless General is still on the field!"

Cameron gasped. "Oh no!..." He blinked. "Um… I…I'm not sure… I… Uh…"

Erin smiled. "It's alright Cameron. You see, When Freed is on the field, his controller has the option to forgo their draw to add a level four or lower warrior type monster to their hand from their deck… And if it's the card I think…"

Devon shuffled his deck and put it back in the duel disk. "Now, I summon my new monster! King's Knight in attack mode! (1600/1400)" Devon started to chuckle. "Now's where the fun begins! Because if I summon King's Knight while the Queen's Knight is already on the field, I can Special Summon Jack's Knight from my deck to the field! (1900/1000)" A solemn looking, blonde knight appeared on the field next to the other two knights.

"Hey, brainiac, you need to get your head checked!" Matt said with a chuckle. "My Superstar has way more attack points !"

"Matt, you idiot!" Erin shouted from the sidelines. "Don't egg him on! He's got something huge!"

Cameron gasped. "Huge? How huge?"

Erin looked to Cameron. "In terms of attack strength, not as big as Austin's Machiner's Force…" She looked back to the field. "But, when it comes to overall power, effect strength and all… It's not pleasant."

Devon slid a spell card into his duel disk. "Now, here's a card you may find familiar! My spell card, Polymerization!" The three knight monsters swirled together on the field. "Say hello to my ultimate creature, Arcana Knight Joker! (3800/2500)" A purple haired warrior clad in black armour appeared, towering over Freed.

"Oh my… That's a doozy of a monster…" Matt said, biting his bottom lip.

Devon pointed to Superstar. "Destroy his musician, Joker!" The knight swung his mighty sword and sliced the mighty musician in half, destroying it and causing Matt's Life Points to drop. (M:2800 D:4000).

"That's fine!" Matt said with a smirk. "Because whenever any of my Ultimate Musicians are sent to the graveyard due to battle, I can Special Summon one of the monsters used as a Fusion Material to summon it in attack mode! So, please, welcome back to the stage, Musician Prince! (1500/1500)"

"Alright then, Freed! Attack his Prince!" The blonde general ran at the Musician Prince and punched it hard, destroying it. (M:2000 D:4000) "How about that?"

"I'm okay with that, because now Musician Prince's effect kicks in posthumously!" Matt pulled his deck out. "Now I can add one spell card to my hand from my deck!" Matt added a card to his hand.

"Enjoy it while you can, 'cause I activate the spell card from my hand!" Devon slid a card into his duel disk. "Sacrifice of the Knight, activate! With this, I sacrifice one warrior-type monster on my field and deal damage to you, equal to three-hundred times its level!" Freed suddenly disappeared in a flash of light.

"What?!" Matt exclaimed. "Okay, so if Freed was a level five monster… Gah!" Matt's Life Points dropped again. (M:500 D:4000)

"Plus, if I activate this card when I have no cards in my hand, I can draw three cards!" Devon drew his three cards. "But, unfortunately, I have to end my turn after I activate it, so I guess it's your turn… Your last turn!"

Erin gulped. "This is intense… I can't believe Matt lost all but five-hundred of his Life Points in just this turn!"

"Matt can do it…" Cameron said softly. "I don't doubt it… I mean… He took down Professor Austin's Machiner's Force…"

"It's not that simple though…" Erin cleared her throat. "Matt! Watch out! Arcana Knight Joker has a special effect! Whenever he's targeted by an effect, all Devon has to do is discard a card from his hand to negate the effect… There's something else… But I can't remember what…"

Matt turned to Erin. "I know…" He turned to Devon. "I once read about a duelist who ran a Knight deck… A young, up-and-comer who just finished his first year at Duel Academy…" He pointed to Devon. "A young man by the name of Devon Royale!"

Devon chuckled and stroked his chin confidently. "Ah yes… I remember… I was interviewed for a local duel magazine a few months back. I was, and still am, considered to be the next King of Games! That's how great a duelist I am, and that's why I'm going to defeat you!"

Matt smiled. "That's impossible, 'cause I'm going to be the next King of Games!" Matt drew his card. "I'll activate the effect of my Musician Drummer, and add another Musician card to my hand!" Matt picked one card from his deck and added it to his hand. "Next, I activate my Field card, Concert Hall!" Matt put in the Field Spell, suddenly the surroundings changed. Matt and Devon were now on a stage and surrounding them were rows and rows of arena seating. "This card powers up all Musician monsters by three-hundred points! (Musician Drummer = 1300/2000) But, there's another twist to this magical place!" Suddenly, in a cloud of smoke, Musician King returned to the field.

Devon gritted his teeth. "What is this?"

Matt pumped his fist. "My Concert Hall lets me Special Summon a Musician monster from my graveyard, just as long as it was used as Fusion Material! Like my Musician King! (Musician King = 2050/1500)" Matt slid a spell card into his duel disk. "Now, I activate my Fusion Sage spell card! Now, I get to add a Polymerization from my deck to my hand!" Matt rooted through his deck and added the spell card to his hand.

Erin smiled. "Oh my… He's got something planned…"

"Go Matt!" Cameron shouted. "Take him down!"

"I'll activate Polymerization now!" Matt activated his card. "By fusing my Musician King and the monster I added to my hand, Musician Queen!" Musician King, once again disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the main act this evening! The one, the only…"

Out of the smoke emerged a large, statuesque rocker, bald, besides a long, blonde ponytail, wearing heavy shoulder pads, as well as holding a double-necked guitar.

"Rockstar – The Ultimate Musician God! (2600/2100 to 2900/2100)"

Devon smirked. "You idiot, don't you see that your monster is weak?"

"Maybe you're the one who needs to see, Devon!" Matt pointed to his monster. "For every Musician Monster in my graveyard, my Rockstar gets an extra three-hundred points! So, my Prince, Queen, King, and Superstar, that's twelve-hundred points! (Rockstar – The Ultimate Musician God = 4100/2100)!"

Devon gulped. "Oh no!"

"It gets better!" Matt started. "Because I can now, tribute a monster on my field to destroy one monster on your field! So, thanks for all the help Musician Drummer!" The drummer disappeared in a flash of light. "Now, Rockstar, destroy Arcana Knight Joker!"

Erin gritted her teeth. "What's he doing? I told him he can negate an effect that targets his Joker!"

"She's right!" Devon sent a card from his hand to the graveyard. "By discarding a monster, I can negate your monster's effect!" Devon pointed at Matt. "Nice try pal!"

"No…" Matt said. "You're the one with the 'nice try'! When I read the story about you in that duel magazine, they had profiled some of your best cards… And I learned your monster's weakness! It can only use its negating effect only once per turn!"

"Gah!" Devon stepped back. "Oh no!"

Erin gasped. "That's right! That's what I forgot!"

Matt activated his face down card. "I now activate my face down card! De-Fusion! This card lets me send a Fusion Monster back to the Fusion Deck, and Special Summon its Fusion Material monsters to the field!"

"And, you're going to target your Rockstar?" Devon asked, sceptically.

"No…" Matt pointed to the Arcana Knight Joker. "I'm targeting your Joker!"

Suddenly, Arcana Knight Joker split back into the Jack's Knight, the Queen's Knight and the King's Knight.

Devon growled. "Grr… What is this?!"

Matt slid the last card in his hand into his duel disk. "And now, I activate-"

"Hey! Is someone there?!" came a voice from outside the arena.

"Crap! Security!" Devon said, lowering his duel disk. The holograms abruptly disappeared. Devon glared at Matt. "This isn't over Valant…" And then, he ran out, using the entrance he came in from.

"Matt! Let's go!" Erin shouted.

"… Right…" Matt replied.

---

Three security officers ran into the arena to find it empty.

"Huh… I thought I heard someone hear…" said one of the officers.

---

Erin, Cameron and Matt found themselves outside the Osiris Red dorm. "That was close…" Cameron said quietly.

Erin looked to Matt, who was looking at a card. "What's that, Matt?"

Matt turned to Erin. "It's the card I was going to play…" He flipped it around. "It's a spell card called Set List. I pay half my Life Points and any Ultimate Musician on my field gets to attack all monsters on the opponent's field."

Cameron gasped. "If you had played that card… You… Um… Would've… Uh… Might've won… Yeah?"

"Maybe." Matt said. "I guess we'll never know… I'll tell you what though… I think I may have made a powerful enemy tonight."

---

Devon laid in his bed, back in the Obelisk Blue dorm.

"Necro Guardna…" he muttered to himself. "I discarded this card to activate my Joker's effect… I would've removed it from play to negate Valant's attack…" He sighed and flicked the card to the ground. "But would that have been enough…" He smirked and chuckled. "Of course it would have! I'm the next King of Games! I had thirty-five-hundred points on him!"

He snickered to himself. "I'm the best!"

---

"What?!" Austin shouted over the phone. "What do you mean there was no one there?!"

He growled as he spoke to the security crew over the other end of the phone. "Fine… Thanks anyways…"

He hung up the phoned and rubbed his temples. "That pathetic musician is running around the school still… He's a lucky kid…"

"This is going to be a long year.

---

**Next Time…**

_Matt may be one hell of a musician, but when it comes to being a student, he's not exactly an ace. Professor Ivy, the head of Osiris Red, suggests a most unexpected tutor. Will Matt be able to take this study session seriously, or will he slack off in class? Find out next chapter!_

**Chapter 3: Learning from a Shy Teacher! Can I Really Learn?!**

**--**

**A/N:** Well, I hope you enjoyed that, review please, it makes me feel so good!

Meanwhile, I'll just post my original cards here (in order of appearance)

**Mini-Musician King**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1000/DEF:1000**

You can tribute this card to Special Summon one "Musician King" from your Fusion Deck

**Musician Drummer**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1000/DEF:2000**

Once per turn, you can add one Level 4 or lower "Musician" monster from your deck to your hand.

**Musician Prince**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1500/DEF:1500**

When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add one Spell Card to your hand from your deck.

**Superstar – The Ultimate Musician King**

**Light/Fusion/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:2400/DEF:1600**

**Musician King + Musician Prince**

The Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above monsters. This card gains 100 ATK for every "Musician" monster in your graveyard. When this card is destroyed as a result of battle, you may Special Summon one monster used in the Fusion Summon of this card from the Graveyard.

**Warrior's Shield**

**Normal Trap Card**

You can only activate this card when a Warrior-type monster is selected as an attack target. You take no Battle Damage this turn.

**Sacrifice of the Knight**

**Normal Spell Card**

Select one Warrior-type monster on your side of the field. Tribute the selected monster and inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to the selected monster's Level x 300. Also, if you activate this card when you have no cards in your hand, draw 3 cards. End your turn after you activate this card.

**Concert Hall**

**Field Spell Card**

All "Musician" monsters on the field gain 300 ATK. Once per turn, you may Special Summon one "Musician" monster used as Fusion Material from your Graveyard.

**Musician Queen**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1600/DEF:1300**

When this card is summoned, you may add one "Polymerization" from your Graveyard to your hand.

**Rockstar – The Ultimate Musician God**

**Light/Fusion/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:2600/DEF:2100**

**Musician King + Musician Queen**

The Fusion Summon of this card can only be conducted with the above monsters. This card gains 300 ATK for every "Musician" monster in your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can tribute one "Musician" monster on your field to destroy one monster on your opponent's side of the field.

**Set List**

**Normal Spell Card**

You must pay half of your Life Points to activate this card. Select one "Ultimate Musician" on your side of the field. The selected monster can attack each monster on your opponent's side of the field. No other monsters can attack this turn.


	3. First Week of School

**A/N:** Enjoy chapter three… REMEMBER! I like reviews!!

**Chapter 3: Learning from a Shy Teacher! Can I Really Learn?!**

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The built in alarm from the PDA went off with the sound of a generic alarm. Cameron woke up slowly, but with a smile. "Ah… Today's the first day…" He chuckled and turned on his side, still in his bed. He was in the middle bunk of the three bed bunk-bed with Matt below him and Napoleon above him.

Cameron peaked over the edge of his bed, looking into the bed of his new friend. "Hey Matt… Um… Are you… You know… Excited…?"

Despite the alarm having gone off earlier, Matt was still sound asleep, snoring softly, his covers all a mess.

"Oh man…" Cameron whispered under his breath. He slowly climbed out of his bed and found his bare feet on the thin carpeted floor. He grabbed his backpack, which laid in a far corner of the room and headed to the cherry-wood desk in the room. He pulled some papers from his bag and a pencil and started to jot some things down onto the paper. "Mhm… Alright… Yeah, okay… Hmm… Yes…"

Matt slowly woke up eventually to the sound of pencil scratches and small half words coming from the throat of Cameron. "Huh… Cameron…?" he asked slowly. He sat up groggily. "What… Are you doing?"

Cameron froze up. He didn't expect Matt to wake up at that time.

Matt got out of his bunk and walked up behind Cameron. "What do you got here, little buddy?"

Cameron quickly unfroze and covered his papers from Matt. "Oh! You know! It's just… Some… Stuff!" He turned to Matt and gave him a big smile and a forced laugh. "No need to worry about it!"

Matt blinked. "Oh… Well… Alright then…" He stretched his arms up. "Huh… It feels like there was something important going on today…"

Cameron smiled. "Today is the first day of classes!" He sighed a little. "We finally get to put the knowledge of experts in our head!"

"Oh yeah…" Matt started. "I guess that's important…" He checked his PDA. "It says classes here start at eight o'clock."

Cameron smiled, turning back to his papers. "Yeah, they do."

"So, why are we up at five-thirty?" Matt asked.

Cameron froze up once more. "Oops!"

---

"And so, it was using this combo that the current King of Games, Yugi Motou defeated Seto Kaiba in a semi-final match at the Battle City tournament." The older, male teacher droned on at the front of the lecture hall.

The current class was called "Contemporary Duel History", and, from what was heard so far, it seemed to be a lecture on different strategies used by famous duelists since the invention of actual Duel Monsters cards, rather than the widely believed theory of the game's Egyptian ancestry.

Cameron sat at his seat and took notes on almost everything the professor said, making small affirmative noises every time the professor said something new.

"Wow, this is really interesting… Yeah?..." Cameron whispered to Matt, who was sitting beside him. "What… You know… Do you think?..."

Cameron turned to Matt, who had his head resting on his hands on the desk in front of him. He was resting so much, in fact, that he was asleep.

"Oh… Matt…" Cameron sighed, turning back to his paper. "It's my fault…" he whispered to himself. "I shouldn't have… You know… Woken him up so early…" He shrugged. "I'm sure he'll wake up in the next class though…"

The professor continued. "… Now, we'll take a look at the duels of less well known professional duelist, Katsuya Jonouchi…"

---

"Alright, as this is the first day of class, we'll start with something easy. Just paint your favourite card on the paper provided." The female art teacher smiled into the crowd of students. "If you want, you can even hang it up in your room as a poster!"

Cameron took his brush to the paper and smiled as he painted. "Batteryman D has… A 'three' on his chest… Right? I think so… 'Cause Batteryman AA has a 'one'… And Batteryman C has a 'two'… So, it… You know… Makes sense…"

Muffled sounds came from Matt, who was, again, sitting beside Cameron. The smaller boy turned to Matt and sighed. He was face down on the paper, asleep. It was a shame, because he had actually started painting, and it was still wet.

"Oh no…" Cameron sighed. "Well… Next is Physical Education… I don't think he'll be able to sleep through that… Right…?"

---

On the sun-drenched field, every student wore an identical sweat suit and all stood in formation.

The male teacher blew his whistle. "Alright, class. Let's start off with twenty laps! Let's move it!"

Cameron, who wasn't wearing his regular red toque, ran around the field, his brown hair now blowing in his eyes. "This is tough!... But… You know… At least Matt isn't…"

Suddenly, Cameron felt some extra weight tugging around his waist as he kept running. He turned around to see what it was.

It seems that Matt had rigged a blanket around Cameron's waist and Matt himself was laying down on it, sleeping, as Cameron dragged him along the side of the field.

"Oh come on!" Cameron exclaimed. "Now, that's just ridiculous!"

---

The rest of the week seemed to proceed the same way. During all of the classes, Matt would either be asleep, or not paying attention.

All of his teachers noticed this and complained to Professor Lillian Ivy, the head of the Osiris Red dorm.

"You have to do something!" cried the art teacher, Miss Ashley Viridian. "All of his portraits come back, looking like big, blue faceprints! And when he leaves the class, he's always wondering why he has blue paint all over his face!"

"That's nothing!" replied the history professor, Professor Noel Convoy. "I spent a whole class talking about notable preliminary duels at the Duelist Kingdom tournament! The next day, I gave a pop quiz on the subject, and to the question 'Who defeated Insector Haga in the first duel of the preliminaries?' Matt answered 'Joey Wheeler'… Who the hell is Joey Wheeler?!"

The gym teacher, Brick Grissam, busted through both of them. "Oh yeah? Well, even though he's slept through all of my classes, he still seems to be able to run with the big dogs! And if there's one thing I hate, it's good results for minimal effort! You should get what you work for!"

Ivy sighed and lit a cigarette. "Ladies and gentlemen, please, simmer down…" She took a long drag on the cigarette. "I understand you're having problems with him, but there's nothing I can do. My only responsibility is to make sure that he isn't dead by the end of the day. And if he does turn up dead, I'm still okay, as long as it wasn't on the dorm grounds."

"That's awfully cold-hearted…" Convoy said, with a small look of disgust.

"I'm just saying, I'm not, technically, a teacher of his. If there's something that needs to be done, the order has to come down from you three."

"Actually…" Miss Viridian interjected. "There's a certain someone that we think would be a perfect candidate to tutor Matt Valant. And he's in your dorm, so, we thought…"

"Ah… I see…" Ivy nodded and put out her cigarette. "Just give me the name of this tutor and I'll set everything up."

---

Matt walked into Professor Ivy's office, knocking on the door. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

"Ah, yes, Matt." She motioned for him to sit down in the chair in front of her desk. "I've been talking with your teachers, and they have some pretty great words of praise for you."

"Really?" Matt asked, surprised. "I'm doing that good?"

"Well…" Ivy started with a smirk. "They say that no one can slack off as well as you."

It took a while for the sarcasm to kick in. Matt's expression slowly soured. "Oh…"

"They suggested a tutor for you. Someone you're well acquainted with and actually pays attention in all of their classes. I also think that this person can help you over come any learning obstacles you may have."

"Sounds like this person is some sort of superhero." Matt joked. "Who is it?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh, that's them now." Ivy said. "Come on in!" she called.

The door opened and revealed a small figured male, wearing a bright red toque and an Osiris Red blazer. "H-Hi…"

Matt blinked and just sat for a second before turning to Ivy. "Seriously? Cameron Shoq is going to be my tutor?"

Ivy smiled. "I thought you might react this way. Cameron, unlike you, however, pays attention in class and has aced every assignment thrown his way. I think you two can rub off on each other."

Matt tilted his head. "How could I rub off on him?"

Ivy leaned in closer to Matt and started to whisper. "If you hadn't noticed, Cameron isn't the most confident person in the world. I think if he can tutor you in school, you'd be able to tutor him in confidence."

Matt stroked his chin. "Well… I'm still not sure…"

Cameron cleared his throat. "Well… How about… You know… We settle this with a duel?... If I win… You know… I have to tutor you…"

Ivy smiled. "Well, that's a great idea! Good thinking Cameron!"

"Hold on…" Matt interjected. "I'll agree to the tutoring thing even before we duel… So, how about this… The loser has to do the winner's homework for a month!"

Ivy smirked. "Well… I dunno if I can consent to something like this."

"I accept." Cameron smiled. "I think it's time to start my first lesson!"

---

Matt and Cameron stood at opposite ends of the duelling field outside of the Osiris Red dorm. Professor Ivy stood at the sidelines. "I will act as a referee for this duel. So, when you two are ready, draw your opening hands. Cameron will have the first move."

Both boys nodded and drew the first five cards from their duel disks and their Life Points flew up to four-thousand.

"Let's duel!" both boys said in unison. (M:4000 C:4000)

"Let's see how you… You know… Stack up against my new tutoring deck!" Cameron drew a card. "I constructed this deck as soon as I heard that I was going to be a tutor… So I… You know… Built a deck around that! And here's the first step!" He slid a card into the duel disk. "I activate Card Destruction! We discard our hands to the Graveyard… And… Well… Draw the same amount of cards that we discarded." Both players sent their hands to the Graveyard and drew five cards.

Two face down card holograms appeared on Cameron's side of the field. "I'll… You know… End with that."

Matt drew another card and looked at his hand. _Alright… I got Mirror Force in my hand… And Concert Hall! Sweet!_

"I'll set one card and activate the Field Spell, Concert Hall!" The surroundings changed. Cameron and Matt were now on a stage and surrounding them was arena seats. "This card powers up all my Musician monsters by three-hundred points… Musician monsters, such as my Musician Prince, in attack mode! (1500/1500 to 1800/1500)" The musician appeared on Matt's side of the field, holding a microphone. "Now, I attack you directly Cameron!" The musician started to scream into the microphone, sonic sound waves slowly approaching Cameron.

"Aw man… Matt… You don't need to be a genius to know that… You know… You shouldn't fall for traps…" Cameron flipped up both of his face down cards. "I activate both my face down cards… First, it's… Well… Sakuretsu Armor, which destroys your attacking monster… And second is… You know… Malevolent Catastrophe… Which destroys all your Spell and Trap cards when your monster is attacking…"

Matt gulped. "Oh no… Wait… If you destroy my monster, won't that cancel out my attack, therefore ruining your Malevolent Catastrophe?"

Cameron sighed. "Matt… Don't you know the… You know… Rule of chains?... The last card to be activated is the first one to resolve…"

Just then, Matt's Field Spell disappeared and even his face down card was destroyed. _Ah! My Mirror Force!_ Then, Musician Prince was destroyed as well.

Matt gritted his teeth. "That's fine, because when Musician Prince is sent to the Graveyard, I get to add a Spell card from my deck to my hand." Matt did so and looked at his hand with a frown. "I end my turn…"

Cameron drew a card and looked at it. "Alright… I'm going to… You know… Show you why you should study… Not knowing proper answers will… Well… Lead to terrible things…" Cameron slid a card into his duel disk. "I activate Question! You see… Now, you have to guess the bottom monster in my Graveyard… And… Well… If you guess wrong… I get to Special Summon it… But, it's removed from play if you guess right…"

Matt smiled. "Alright then, this shouldn't be too hard…" Matt blinked. "Wait… You don't have any monsters in your Graveyard!"

"Matt!" Ivy shouted from the sidelines. "How come you can't even remember something that happened one turn ago!"

Matt turned to Professor Ivy. "What do you mean?"

Cameron smiled. "My… You know… Card Destruction!"

Matt gasped. "Oh no!" Matt thought. "Ugh… I dunno… I remember that you run a Batteryman deck… So… Batteryman AA?"

Cameron sighed again. "Matt… I told you already that… You know… This is a different deck…" Cameron pulled a card out of his Graveyard. "The correct answer is Injection Fairy Lily! (400/1500)" A pink haired nurse-fairy appeared on Cameron's field with a large needle in her hand. "Now, I think it's time… For a science lesson!..."

Matt blinked. "A science lesson?"

"The Law of Conservation of Matter…" Cameron smiled. "Matter cannot be created nor destroyed!"

"What a clever lesson…" Ivy smirked from the sidelines.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Matt asked.

"You see…" Cameron started. "I can increase my Fairy Lily's attack by three-thousand during the Battle Phase…" Injection Fairy Lily's needle grew twice its size (400 to 3400). "However… Like I said… This boost doesn't come from nowhere… I have to pay two-thousand Life Points…" Cameron's Life Points took a steep drop (M:4000 C:2000) "But now… You know… My Fairy Lily gets to attack directly!" The pink haired fairy then threw her needle at Matt, making his Life Points go down even further than Cameron's. (M:600 C:2000)

"Ugh… Wow…" Matt wiped some sweat from his brow. "That was some attack…"

A face down card hologram appeared on Cameron's field. "With this, I end my turn…"

Matt drew his card and smiled. "Alright, time to change the tempo!" Matt slid a card into his duel disk. "I activate the spell Audition Time!!" Matt pulled his deck out of his duel disk. "Using this card, I can add one Musician monster to my hand!" He then put his deck back into the duel disk. "Next, I activate the card my Prince added to my hand! Polymerization! So, I fuse the Musician Princess I just added to my hand with the Musician Queen, also in my hand, to summon Dancestar – The Ultimate Musician Lady! (2100/1450)" A long haired lady in hip-hop dance gear found her way onto Matt's side of the field.

"Oh my!" Cameron stepped back. "That's a powerful looking monster…"

"It gets even better!" Matt exclaimed. "Dancestar! Attack his Fairy!" The lady jumped into the air and slammed her foot into the fairy, destroying it, causing Cameron's Life Points to go down again. (M: 600 C:300). "And that's not all, because when my Dancestar destroys a monster in battle, I gain Life Points equal to the monster's level, times two-hundred!" (M:1200 C:300). Matt slid in another card from his hand. "Now, I activate De-Fusion! I now split my Dancestar into Musician Queen and Musician Princess (1600/1300 and 1300/1500)! And guess what! They're going to attack!" Both lady musicians ran at Cameron.

"I… Uh… Activate my Trap card! Magical Shield!..." Cameron sent a card from his hand to the Graveyard. "By sending a Spell card from my hand to my Graveyard… I can… Well… Negate all Battle Damage coming from direct attacks!" The two ladies managed to land a hit on Cameron, which knocked him back. His Life Points were protected, but he was still shaken up.

"Hmm… Fine, I end." Matt said with a confident smile.

Cameron drew a card and frowned. "Man… Now I'm… You know… Not going to win…" He looked at Matt. "I have no… Well… Monsters in my hand… Right?..." He sighed. "I should just give up.

"Cameron!" Matt shouted. "Listen to me!"

Both Cameron and Ivy perked up to Matt's sudden exertion.

"Don't give up! You'll never gain confidence if you don't even try!" He smirked. "Even though I was majorly down just a while ago, I didn't give up!" He pointed to Cameron. "Just rock on and don't give up! Not until one of our scores is zero! You just have to pay attention and learn from everything that's happened! And be confident!"

Ivy smiled. "Looks like they're starting to learn from each other…"

Cameron's expression slowly turned from sad to excited. "Precisely, Matt… You finally understand! You have to pay attention if you want to win!... Whether it's a duel… Or… You know… School!" Cameron slid in a card into his duel disk. "I activate my Pigeonholing Book of Spell!" Cameron drew the top three cards of his deck and looked at them. "This card let's look at the top three cards of my deck… And then… Well… Rearrange them in any order I want!" He switched two cards around and put them on top of his deck.

"Sweet move, but what's that gonna help?" Matt asked.

"By reading ahead in my 'book'… I studied for the upcoming pop quiz!" Cameron said with delight.

"Q-Quiz?!" Matt asked, surprised.

Cameron slid in one card into his duel disk. "Yup!... The Reversal Quiz!" The Spell card's hologram appeared, and on it was a picture of the same guy on the Question card. "As a cost for my Reversal Quiz… I have to send all cards from my hand to the graveyard." Cameron slid his hand into the graveyard. "Now, I call one type of card… Spell… Monster… Or Trap… Then, I pick up the top card of my deck… If I'm right, our Life Points switch!"

Matt gasped. "Interesting… But what if you're wrong?"

"I won't be wrong… Because I studied hard for this quiz!" Cameron laughed. "I can not only name the type of card, but I can also name the card itself!"

Matt gritted his teeth. "Right… His Pigeonholing Book of Spell…"

"Spell card!" Cameron shouted confidently. He drew his card and smiled. "Well… What do you know…" He showed the card to Matt. "It's a Spell card!" Cameron and Matt's Life Points switched. (M:300 C:1200)

"Well… You still can't attack, you don't have any monsters!" Matt said with a smirk. "I'll attack next turn, and win!"

Cameron nodded. "Exactly, I don't have a monster…" Suddenly, Cameron smirked. "However… I'm not going to need one!" He slid in the Spell card he just drew. "This card is called Hinotama!" A meteor appeared above Cameron. "This spell inflicts damage to your Life Points, to the pleasant tune of five-hundred points!"

Matt blinked. "Oh no…"

The meteor then charged towards Matt, crashing right in front of him, causing Matt to fly backwards. "Ahh!" His Life Points dropped down to zero.

Ivy raised one arm into the air. "Cameron Shoq is the winner of this duel." She smiled to the smaller boy. "Congratulations."

Cameron blushed. "Ah! Well…" he bowed. "Thank you… Right?... Yeah…"

---

"Wow, Cameron! That was awesome! Where did you learn to duel like that?" Matt said with a large smile on his face.

"Oh… You know… It's just… I'm… Well…" Cameron stammered.

"Cameron is a well seasoned duelist." Ivy interjected.

Matt tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"He graduated from a prestigious duelling preparatory school four years ago…" She looked to Cameron. "He skipped so far ahead in his grades that he graduated at the same time as some of our current third years… He graduated in the top three of his class…" She turned to Matt. "I'm sorry to say, but you never stood a chance from the beginning."

Matt's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?!" He turned to Cameron. "How did you get so ahead?"

"Well… It's simple…" Cameron blushed. "I studied as hard as I could… Although, I never had the confidence to make it to number one…"

"Well… It's good to know I have someone with such great knowledge on my side!" Matt chuckled.

"Oh you'll have the knowledge soon!" Ivy smiled. "Remember, you said the loser has to do the winner's homework… And I'm sure Cameron won't accept anything less than an 'A'. So… you better pay attention in class, Matt!" And with that, she walked away, back to her office.

Matt stood there in silence for a bit, and then he broke down. "No! How could I forget?!"

---

**Next Time…**

_Now we know that Cameron finished high in his prep school graduating class, but what happens when Cameron gets a duel challenge from his class' number one student? It's a duel between masters of thunder monsters, in the next chapter…_

**Chapter 4: Cameron's Confidence! Batteryman versus Creator!**

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**A/N:** Well, I hope you enjoyed that, review please, it makes me feel so good!

Meanwhile, I'll just post my original cards here (in order of appearance)

**Concert Hall**

**Field Spell Card**

All "Musician" monsters on the field gain 300 ATK. Once per turn, you may Special Summon one "Musician" monster used as Fusion Material from your Graveyard.

**Musician Prince**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1500/DEF:1500**

When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, you can add one Spell Card to your hand from your deck.

**Audition Time!**

**Normal Spell Card**

Add one monster with "Musician" in its card name from your deck to your hand.

**Musician Queen**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1600/DEF:1300**

When this card is summoned, you may add one "Polymerization" from your Graveyard to your hand.

**Musician Princess**

**Light/Spellcaster/Effect**

**ATK:1300/DEF:1500**

If this card is Special Summoned from the deck, you gain Life Points equal to the number of cards in your opponent's hand x 300

**Magical Shield**

**Normal Trap Card**

You must discard one Spell Card to activate this card. Until the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, you can reduce all damage done to you by your opponent's direct attacks to 0.


End file.
